CR North saw its remarkable postseason come to an end in Thursday’s quarterfinal round of the PIAA Quad A playoffs.
By Scott Huff
IMMACULATA – The PIAA Quad-A State Quarterfinal baseball game featured a pair of districts champions – and both District 11 champion Parkland and District 1 champion Council Rock North played with the heart of champions as the Trojans edged Rock North 2-1 in a masterpiece at Immaculata University.
“We felt before the game that the winner of this game would be playing for the state title,” said Council Rock North head coach Matt Schram. “We are not at all surprised that we were playing in this game. Parkland does all the little things right and plays great fundamental baseball.
“The Parkland pitcher was as good as everyone told us he was going to be,” added Schram in reference to Trojan senior left-hander Connor Higgins who has earned a baseball scholarship to Arizona State University next year. “But we had our chances.”
The Indians surely did have those chances.
The first one came in the third inning with CR North down 1-0. Matt Hand walked and moved to second on a single off the bat of Tyler Nowmos. That brought to the plate Brandon McIlwain who absolutely crushed a ball down the left field line that traveled 327 feet – but the fence was 330 feet from home plate and the rocket was simply the first out of the inning. Both Hand and Nowmos failed to score as Higgins pitched his way out of trouble.
The second chance came in the fifth inning with the score still 1-0. Cole Hofmann led off the inning with a base on balls and moved to second on a neatly placed sacrifice bunt by Hand. One out later, Hofmann was still on second base with the dangerous McIlwain at the plate. McIwain – the potential lead run – was intentionally walked and that brought senior Cole German to the plate.
“That happened once before this year against Wissahickon and it really jacks me up,” said German who greeted the first pitch for an RBI single to score Hofmann that would knot the score at 1-1. “And the same thing happened in that game – I got a hit and drove home a run.”
The inning ended when designated hitter Seth Leuz hit a bullet up the middle that appeared to be a single through the infield that would have scored McIlwain with a second Indian run, but a great play by the Parkland shortstop turned the missile into a force out at second base to end the threat.
“As things turned out – that was a game changing play,” said Schram. “You have to give them credit – they made the big plays when they had to make them.”
The Indians, though, were still not out of chances.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Trojans score what proved to be the winning run without a hit. Two walks to lead off the inning – a sacrifice bunt – and a sacrifice fly would plate the run.
Council Rock North would not go away without a fight. With one out in the sixth – Jared Schram (safe on an error), Noah Hartwell (single), and Hofmann (walk) all reached base safely to fill the bases. However, Higgins struck out the final two batters in the inning to preserve the lead – and a one, two, three seventh inning would seal the deal.
Almost lost in the final analysis was the solid pitching the Indians showcased in the loss. Starter Noah Hartwell did not allow an earned run in his stint, while McIlwain threw hard – struggled just that single inning with the two walks -and absorbed the loss. The hard-hitting Trojans managed just four singles all afternoon against the effective tandem of Hartwell and McIlwain.
The faces in and around the CR North dugout at the close of the game showed the pain in losing their collective chance to be a state champion.
“This whole season has been amazing,” said German who will play his baseball at Charleston Southern next year. “These guys are my best friends – and it is tough knowing that the season is over for the seniors.”
“This team has done a lot of team building throughout the season – with all the bad weather at the beginning of the season and the layoffs with the senior trip,” said Schram. “This is a group of players that really came together as a team – and a team that will never forget this season – I know I won’t.”
And the banner in the gym that states that the Council Rock North Indians were 2015 District One baseball champions won’t let anyone else forget that fact either.
Council Rock North Indians 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 * 1 3 1
Parkland Trojans 1 0 0 0 1 0 x * 2 4 1
Council Rock North: McIlwain 3 0 0 0; German 4 0 1 1; Leuz 4 0 0 0; Hicks 2 0 0 0; Schram 3 0 0 0; Hartwell 3 0 1 0; Hofmann 3 1 1 0; Hand 1 0 0 0; Nowmos 3 0 1 0. Totals 26 1 3 1.
Parkland Trojans: Strisovsky 3 0 0 0; Afflerbach 2 2 1 0; Rabasco 2 0 2 1; Bruno 2 0 0 0; McAndrew 2 0 0 1; Mueller 2 0 1 0; Jacoby 1 0 0 0; Roth 2 0 0 0; Zaccaro 3 0 0 0. Totals 19 2 4 2.
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